Mukti Rijal

EVEN during these difficult times caused due to the virulent second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, interactions, meetings, conversations, conferences and dialogues have become possible and emerged as potential alternatives to conventional practices. Zoom interactions, Google meets and many other online platforms have made communications easier, instant, frugal and speedier. Universities, campuses even down to the school levels, especially among the private schools in the urban areas of Nepal, online classes have been reportedly run in a smooth manner during this panicky situation. Many of my friends who are full or part time teachers in the campuses claim that virtual platforms have been very successful and they have to be incessantly updated and prepared to face the students. Many college teachers who had not been introduced to the digital technology and had not even opened their mail accounts have now been using multimedia resources for preparing and conducting presentations for students with greater and renewed vigour, enthusiasm and confidence.
Effective learning
Students in the far off districts can now get connected to online classes and manage to benefit from remote access streamed from the corners of the capital city or any other parts of the country. Likewise, teachers even if they are in far off places like Gulmi or Arghakhanchi can connect to the students and conduct their teaching in an efficient and effective manner. The campus teachers, especially from the TU constituent campuses who this writer interacted the other day, claimed that online classes have made them better prepared in imparting lessons. The virtual mode classes have made it possible for the campus authorities to monitor classes and assess as to what extent session deliveries have been regular, real time attendance and participation of both students and teachers is ensured. It has also made possible to roughly calculate the number of the students enrolled in the university campuses.
Moreover, it is also possible to solicit avail and mobilise the guest lecturers from the specialised disciplines because even the busy people can spare their limited time to interact with students through digital platform and share their knowledge and experiences. Research findings show that students retain and access on an average more learning materials and resources when attending the online classes compared to the physical classrooms. Moreover, studies have also shown that students are able to learn faster online. Furthermore, online classes require less time than in a traditional classroom setting because students can learn at their own pace, can do re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose. Exposed to digital technology, students can access adequate study materials online.
Moreover, students and teachers can make lectures and presentations more interactive using devices like digital pen. Communication between teachers and students can be enhanced using chatbox during lectures. The important aspect to note is that digital platforms offer a combination of synchronous and asynchronous technologies. The presentations can be recorded and viewed later at one's own pace and requirements. Moreover, it has made video-assisted learning a fun and collaborative for learners and teachers. This has led to increased instances of personalised learning allowing educators to customize and personalise learning based on the needs of students.
Even after the pandemic situation would restore to normal and higher education authorities would decide to open campuses in a phased manner in the country, the possibility of hybrid teaching-learning seems to be an option in the Nepali context too. Not only in Nepal most educational institutions across our part of the world are likely to opt for hybrid teaching-learning as an opportunity to strike a balance between online learning and traditional classroom interactions. This fast-growing trend in education seems to be in tandem with the evolving situation across different parts of the world.
The new digital platform is supportive for those educational institutions that value and promote project-based learning. It provides the right platform for students to collaborate and work on projects in a group. Students work individually on a project and then brainstorm and discuss in small groups using online learning. Brainstorming ideas using technology makes the entire teaching-learning process interactive and more meaningful. It gives an opportunity to students to stay connected with each other and help teachers facilitate curriculum delivery in a meaningful manner.
Several studies have confirmed that the learning curve has been pretty steep for teachers due to digital platforms. It is found that teachers have worked creatively, coming up with solutions to ensure continuous learning. Online platforms have thus made “learning never stops” a reality. Needless to repeat, online platforms enable teachers to reach out to many students more efficiently and effectively through chat groups, video meetings, and also document sharing in different places and locations.

Critical thinking
Coronavirus has thus stirred transformation in the education sector. This has utterly disrupted an education system which was, in fact, losing its relevance. In his book, Twenty One Lessons for the 21st Century, scholar Yuval Noah Harari has clearly outlined how schools continue to focus on traditional academic skills and rote learning, rather than on skills such as critical thinking and adaptability, which will be more important for success in the future. The move to go for online learning can be the catalyst to create a new, more effective method of educating students during the upcoming years.
Although unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience, a new hybrid model of education is bound to emerge with significant benefits in the days to come.

(The author is presently associated with Policy Research Institute (PRI) as a senior research fellow.)